NHL Hockey Trivia: New York Islanders

The New York Islanders are a National Hockey League that began play in 1972-73 along with their expansion partners, the Atlanta Flames. The Islanders reached their pinnacle less than a decade later when they ruled the NHL with four consecutive Stanley Cup championships. Since, the organization has fallen into disarray but a move to Brooklyn may change the fortunes of the franchise.

Test and expand your knowledge of the NHL’s New York Islanders with these four hockey trivia questions.

Q. Which player is the New York Islanders all-time leader in regular season points?

A. Bryan Trottier contributed 1,353 points over his fifteen seasons in an Islanders jersey. Trottier was an essential part of the formula during the Stanley Cup streak of the 1980’s. Mike Bossy comes in second with 1,126 points. However, Bossy played just 752 games for the Islanders, compared to 1,123 for Trottier. Denis Potvin is the only other player in NYI history to top 1,000 points with 1,052 over 1,060 games.

Q. Who was the first team captain of the New York Islanders?

A. Ed Westfall was taken away from the Boston Bruins in the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft. Westfall had played eleven seasons with the Bruins before coming to New York. He served as captain until the end of the 1976-77 season. At the point, the ‘C’ was transferred to Clark Gillies. Westfall remained with the team for two more seasons and retired after the 1978-79 season, missing the New York’s first Stanley Cup victory by one year.

Q. What New York Islander holds the team record for the most goals in a single regular season?

A. Mike Bossy scored 69 goals in 1978-79. Bossy surpassed the 60 goal plateau on five occasions and scored less than 50 in only one season during his career, his last. Bossy is one of just four players in Islanders history to top the 50 goal plateau. Bryan Trottier scored 50 in 1981-82, Pat Lafontaine scored 54 in 1989-90 and Pierre Turgeon netted 58 in 1992-93.

Q. The number 9 is retired by the New York Islanders in honour of what player?

A. Clark Gillies was the fifth of six players to have their number retired by the Islanders.  Clark was a fourth overall pick of the Islanders at the 1974 NHL Entry Draft. Gillies played twelve seasons with the Islanders and two additional seasons with the Buffalo Sabres before retiring.

As metioned, he took over the captaincy of the Islanders from Ed Westfall for the 1977-78 season. That responsibility was transferred to Denis Potvin two years later. Gillies sits fourth all-time for the Islanders in goals, assists and points behind Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy and Denis Potvin. Clark was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002.

NHL Hockey Trivia: Denis Potvin

Denis Potvin was to be the next Bobby Orr when picked by the New York Islanders in the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft. Although not quite achieving the greatness of Orr, Potvin’s career went down as one of the greatest ever for a defenseman.

Test and expand your hockey trivia knowledge of Islanders great, Denis Potvin, with the following four hockey trivia questions.

Q. In what year did Denis Potvin become only the second defenseman in NHL history to surpass 100 points in a single regular season?

A. Potvin contributed 101 points in 1978-79 for the New York Islanders while missing seven games. Denis became the second defenseman to accomplish the feat with Bobby Orr being the first. Just Paul Coffey, Al MacInnis and Brian Leetch have reached the plateau since.

Q. What Ontario Hockey League team’s record does Denis Potvin still hold for most points by a defenseman in a single season?

A. Potvin had 35 goals and 88 assists for 123 points in just 61 games in 1972-73 for the Ottawa 67’s. The total stood as an OHL record until Bryan Fogarty had 155 with the Niagara Falls Thunder in 1988-89.

Q. The New York Islanders retired number 5 in honour of Denis Potvin in 1992. His number is also retired by the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s, however it is not number 5. Which number is retired by the Ottawa 67’s in honour of Potvin?

A. Denis Potvin wore number 7 with the Ottawa 67’s and that is the number that is retired for Denis, as well as Doug Wilson. When Potvin arrived with the Islanders for the 1973-74 season, despite being the first overall pick, he lost number seven to Germain Gagnon who was in his second season with the Islanders and was therefore the veteran. Gagnon made it 62 games into the season before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks. Potvin could have reclaimed the jersey number but chose to stick with number 5. Gagnon made it two more seasons in the NHL before retiring with the Kansas City Scouts after the 1975-76 season.

Q. To this day, in which NHL arena will you hear the chant, “Potvin Sucks”?

A. Of course, Madison Square Garden, the home of the New York Rangers when the Islanders cross the river to play their rivals. Some people still have the nerve to argue that Toronto and Montreal have the most heated rivalry in the NHL. It just doesn’t compare to the hatred that Islanders and Rangers fans have for each other.

Bonus: Denis Potvin won the Max Kaminsky Trophy twice, 1971-72 and 1972-73, as the Ontario Hockey League’s top defenseman. He also won the James Norris Trophy three times as the NHL’s top defenseman.

Potvin is one of just three players to win the Kaminsky Trophy on more than one occasion. The other two are Bryan Berard and Ryan Ellis. There are also just three players that have won both the Kaminsky Trophy and Norris Trophy. The other two are Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger.

NHL's Norris Trophy: A History Of Hoarding

The James Norris Memorial Trophy has been awarded each National Hockey League season since 1953-54, honouring the league’s best defenseman. It’s a historical fact that this award is for a very privileged few. By the end of the 2010-11 season, the Norris Trophy had been given out 55 times. Just four players account for 27 of the 55 winners which equates to slightly more than 49%. Since, 2010-11, the award has been spread out to two first time winners.

Bobby Orr

The group of four is headed by Boston Bruins legend Bobby Orr. Orr won the Norris Trophy in eight straight seasons from 1967-68 to 1974-75. Of course, this is just a portion of the hardware in Orr’s trophy case. During that eight year run, he won the Art Ross Trophy as league scoring leader twice (the only defenseman to win the award). He was also awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player for three consecutive years from 1969-70 to 1971-72. If Orr’s NHL career didn’t come to a premature end due to knee injuries, there’s no knowing how many more times he would have won the Norris.

Doug Harvey

Doug Harvey won the Norris Trophy seven times, one less than Bobby Orr. After Red Kelly won the inaugural Norris Trophy in 1953-54 as a member of the Detroit Red Wings, Doug Harvey took over. He won four in a row from 1954-55 to 1957-58 as a Montreal Canadien. In 1958-59, Canadiens teammate, Tom Johnson, won the award. From 1959-60 to 1961-62, Harvey won another three in a row, two as a member of the Habs and his final one as a member of the New York Rangers.

Niklas Lidstrom

Tied with Doug Harvey is Niklas Lidstrom. The man who took over the leadership role with the Detroit Red Wings when Steve Yzerman retired won the Norris three years in a row from 2000-01 to 2002-03 and then again from 2005-06 to 2007-08. Lidstrom won one last Norris Trophy in 2010-11. Niklas retired after the 2011-12 season and is destined for the Hockey Hall of Fame. His number 5 will be retired by the Red Wings in March, 2014.

Raymond Bourque

Rounding out the group with his name engraved on the Norris Trophy five times is another Boston Bruins great, Raymond Bourque. Despite playing 22 seasons in the NHL, Bourque’s five Norris Trophy victories came over just an eight year span from 1986-87 to 1993-94. Bourque is the NHL’s all-time leader among defensemen in career goals and points. He is the NHL’s all-time leader in shots on goal with nearly one thousand more than the next on the list.

3 Time Winners

Add in four three-time winners and it really becomes apparent that the Norris Trophy is for a very select few of the most elite defensemen to play the game. Pierre Pilote of the Chicago Blackhawks won three times in the mid 1960’s. Denis Potvin won his three with the New York Islanders during their dynasty years of the early 1980’s. When Ray Bourque wasn’t winning it in the 1980’s and 1990’s, Paul Coffey and Chris Chelios were. Coffey did it with the Edmonton Oilers and Detroit Red Wings. Chelios did it with the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks. Of course, with the exception of Lidstrom, every player named in this article is now enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame. As mentioned, as soon as Lidstrom is eligible, it would be the crime of the century if he is not inducted immediately.

Hockey Trivia: NHL Records Not Belonging to Wayne Gretzky

Believe it or not, there are actually some individual NHL records not owned by Wayne Gretzky. Of course, you have to look to categories that Wayne didn’t involve himself in like penalties and defenseman scoring.

Test and expand your knowledge of the NHL’s single season individual records with these four trivia questions.

Q. Who holds the record for the most goals in a single NHL season by a defenseman?

A. No, it’s not Bobby Orr. Paul Coffey broke Orr’s record of 46 goals during the 1985-86 season when he put 48 past opposing goaltenders. Coffey and Orr are the only defensemen to score 40 or more in a single season with Coffey doing it twice and Orr just the once.

The only current blue liner to surpass 30 in a season is Mike Green of the Washington Capitals, scoring 31 in 2008-09. The list of defensemen throughout the history of the NHL scoring 30 or more in a season is slim with just Doug Wilson, Kevin Hatcher, Ray Bourque, Denis Potvin and Phil Housley added to Coffey, Orr and Green.

Q. With 76, what player holds the record for the most goals by a rookie?

A. Teemu Selanne of the Winnipeg Jets broke Mike Bossy’s previous record by a whopping 23 goals in 1992-93. Selanne, Bossy and Joe Nieuwendyk are the only first year NHL players to surpass the 50 goal plateau.

In a weird twist of fate, Selanne did not share the league lead in goal scoring in 1992-93. Alexander Mogilny of the Buffalo Sabres also scored 76. Mogilny was in his fourth year in the National Hockey League and nearly doubled his previous career high of 39 goals, set the previous year. Mogilny would surpass the 50 goal plateau just once more in his career while Selanne would do it just twice more.

Q. Who holds the record for the most points in a single season by a defenseman?

A. No, it’s not Paul Coffey! Bobby Orr won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading point getter in 1970-71 with 139 points. Orr still remains the only defenseman to win the Art Ross. Coffey came within one point of the record with 138 in 1985-86.

Just five defensemen in NHL history have topped the 100 point plateau. Along with Coffey and Orr, Denis Potvin, Al MacInnis and Bryan Leetch have accomplished the feat. Leetch was the last to do it with 102 points way back in 1991-92, over 20 years ago.

Q. What 1970’s super goon holds the record for the most penalty minutes in a single season?

A. Dave ‘The Hammer’ Schultz sat out 472 minutes in the penalty box during the 1974-75 season. This number amounts to nearly eight whole hours in the sin bin! Paul Baxter was the next closest challenger with just 409 minutes in 1981-82.

Current member of the Calgary Flames, Brian McGrattan, holds the American Hockey League record with 551 PIM in 2004-05 with the Binghamton Senators. Joel Theriault, a fourth round pick by the Washington Capitals in 1995, holds the CHL record with 573 PIM in 1995-96 in a QMJHL season split between the Halifax Mooseheads and Drummondville Voltigeurs.

 

 

1973 NHL Amateur Draft: 3 First Rounders Now in the Hockey Hall of Fame

In today’s National Hockey League, with advanced scouting and technology added to the fact that there are 30 teams and plenty of job openings, the first round picks at the NHL Entry Draft often, but not always, stick. In the 1970’s, it wasn’t so much the case. The fact that three of the top eight picks at the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft are now in the Hockey Hall of Fame is quite astounding.

 

Bob Gainey

Bob Gainey was selected eighth overall in 1973 by the Montreal Canadiens. 20 years later, in 1992, Gainey was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Also picked fourth overall in the WHA amateur draft in 1973 by the Minnesota Fighting Saints, Gainey chose the NHL route and was a regular on the league’s top team in 1973-74.

Bob was taken from the OHA’s Peterborough Petes after playing just one season, 1972-73. He played his entire NHL career with Montreal from 1973-74 to 1988-89, winning five Stanley Cups with the team. He was a four time Frank J. Selke Trophy winner as the league’s most defensive forward. In fact, he won the trophy in its first four years of existence and is the only four-time winner to date. Gainey’s number 23 was retired by the Canadiens in 2008.

 

Lanny McDonald

Lanny McDonald was taken fourth overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs, one of three first round picks by Toronto at the 1973 NHL Draft. Like Bob Gainey, McDonald was also taken in the first round of the WHA draft, 10^th overall by the Cleveland Crusaders. He had played two seasons of junior hockey in the WCHL with the Medicine Hat Tigers in 1971-72 and 1972-73. In his two seasons, Lanny contributed 114 and 139 points.

Over his NHL career that spanned from 1973-74 to 1988-89, McDonald played 1,111 regular season games with an additional 117 in the playoffs. He began with Toronto, made a stop with the Colorado Rockies then finished off his career with the Calgary Flames. With Calgary, he scored 66 goals in 1982-83 and won the Stanley Cup in 1985-86. He finished his career with exactly 500 goals and entered the Hockey Hall of Fame along with Bob Gainey in 1992.

 

Denis Potvin

Denis Potvin was the first overall pick at the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft, going to the New York Islanders. After five years of junior hockey with the OHA’s Ottawa 67’s, Potvin jumped right into a starring role with New York for the 1973-74 season, winning the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year. Denis played his entire career with the Islanders, retiring after the 1987-88 season. He captained the team for eight years, from 1979-80 to 1986-87, including the team’s four year Stanley Cup championship run from 1979-80 to 1982-83.

In all, Potvin played 1,052 NHL games and scored 310 goals. He was a three time Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s top defenseman, winning in 1975-76, 1977-78 and 1978-79. In 1991, his number 5 was the first jersey number ever retired by the New York Islanders. Denis had a one year head start on Gainey and McDonald, being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991.